Breaking the Ice
by ValiantRose
Summary: After losing to Rakuzan at the Winter Cup, the Seirin Basketball team vow to win in the new year. When picking up new players, the team gets a particularly interesting set of freshman, especially a pair of polar opposite twins. But, even with these fast-paced new additions, will the team be able to compete against the now stronger Generation of Miracles or will they fall short?
1. Chapter 1

_3.…_  
_The Seirin basketball team tried desperately, not giving up._

_2.…_  
_They held onto that last hope for the win. Kagami went for a dunk to get those last two points that would let them win._

_1.…_  
_The ball was stolen away from Kagami's grasp before it could touch the basket as the buzzer went off. The buzz was louder than normal for it signalled the fate of the match._

_"Rakuzan wins!"_

_Seirin was defeated. The entire team was shocked. They came so far, they worked so hard, and they couldn't do a thing against the captain of the Generation of Miracles, they could only maneuver around him. None of them, no matter how hard they tried could stop the tears from falling. Whether they were tears of sadness or frustration, they all knew exactly how the other was feeling._

_"Now, all of you, don't just sit there with those long looks on your face. You made it to the finals of the Winter Cup! You'll just have to train harder and take it next year!" Riko cried out determinedly to her team as her own tears streamed down her face. The team admired their coach's words but nevertheless, Kiyoshi wouldn't play next year and Seirin's basketball couldn't defeat Akashi._

_They lost._

*  
It was time for a well deserved break for the Seirin basketball team, after the events that transpired at the Winter Cup. Now, the new year was about to begin. A time where dozens of new students would be flooding the halls and joining clubs that held their interests. The activities fair was going on outside the school and each club was trying to get more people. In the midst of all this, a very tall young man made his was through the crowd; a freshman. Some students turned their gazes in shock at the shear size of him. The young man had a causal air about him despite being stared at, but his looks alone would've made people stare. A majority of his hair was a perfectly dyed blond but it had black undertones and strands and it lay in a sweeping mess that, oddly enough, framed his face perfectly. His face was oval and held angled features along with the neutral expression he wore which was slightly intimidating to look at. Each of his ears held a couple piercings which shone against his lightly tanned skin and thick black lashes adorned bright turquoise eyes which were almost too bright to be normal. Overall, he had the looks and presence of model.

"Basketball! Join the basketball club!"

"Do you like basketball? Then join the basketball club!" A few of the, now third year students were yelling, trying to get people interested but they only had a bit of luck so far.

"We made it to the finals of the Winter Cup, you would think that maybe we'd get a few more people applying." Koganei mentioned to Izuki who, yet again, got assigned the job of handing out flyers along with Mitobe.

"Maybe they're intimidated." Izuki answered then started to hand out flyers again. "Join the basketball club, we won't bite but our coach might."

"Wow, that was a good one!" Koganei said as he started to laugh at his team-mate's joke. Suddenly, a shadow formed over his figure. _Hasn't this happened before?_ He turned towards what was blocking the sunlight and there stood the black and blond haired male.

"Can I sign up for the basketball club?"

*  
Riko and Hyuuga were sitting at their club table waiting for applicants along with Kiyoshi who would be their manager for the year. Close by was a new table where a few giggling girls were hanging around and handing out flyers for the newly established club.

"I still can't believe there's a girls basketball club now." Hyuuga said looking over at the giggling girls.

"Yeah, maybe we can have joint practices at some point this term." Kiyoshi suggested with his trademark smile.

"Lets not." Riko ordered. She turned her attention back to the sign up forms and sighed in frustration. "Uggh, we're barely getting any people signing up, this is even worse than last year."

"Calm down, the activities fair isn't over yet." Hyuuga said.

"Yeah, you know what they say, good things will come to those with patience." Kiyoshi added.

"Whoever said that?"

"Me, just now." Hyuuga sighed in mild frustration. Their words did ease the coach slightly but she couldn't help be worried since the less applicants, the less likely they were going to find someone to fill the hole left by Kiyoshi.

"Um…" A male's voice said. The trio looked towards the voice and became instantly shocked. The guy standing in front of them was huge, he was probably around two meters at least. The freshman's intensely turquoise eyes were filled with curiosity.

"Is this where I sign up for the basketball club?" The young man asked.

"Yes, it is." Riko finally said, stuttering a little._ Holy crap, what do these kids eat nowadays?!_ A bit of giggling was heard by the blond and he looked towards it.

"And over there, is that the girl's basketball club?"

"Yeah…" Hyuuga replied. What happened next was sure to be engraved in their brains as the most confusing thing in existence. The intimidating, tall young man's angled face broke into a wide, close-eyed smile. A smile that would be considered cute, not at all like the model-like, flirtatious smile one would expect to come from him.

"Great~" he turned around and started waving towards something in the distance.

"Onee-chan! I found it!" A dark haired female looked up from her book and started to walk towards him, an annoyed expression adorned her petite features. She was really small, her limbs were long and lean but overall she was small. When she got closer, Riko saw that her uniform was big on her even though she was pretty sure she had the smallest size possible. Her facial features were angled but soft and her eyes were a deep shade of grey which held a glare that felt like it could possibly cut through diamonds. Her hair was shoulder length and a rich black.

She glared at the blond when she walk past him.

"Don't yell like that, I could've found it myself." She said darkly.

"I'm sure, I'm sure." He said with the smile still on his face, seemingly not affected by the glare he received. She headed towards the basketball sign-up.

"Do you still want to sign up?" Riko asked wearily.

"Hai!" He replied and sat down. Riko passed him an application.

"Just write your name, middle school and reasons you want to join, only your name and middle school are required though." He proceeded to write and from a distance Riko could see the girl who passed earlier signing up for girl's basketball.

"Ok, here you go~" The young man handed the paper back to Riko.

"Tryouts are after school today. Hope to see you there." Hyuuga said to the blond as he stood up to leave.

"Oh, I'll be there. See you!" The blonde waved as he walked off smiling and met with the girl, towering over her. Meanwhile, Riko took a look at the application.

"His name is Arashi Haru. He has two different middle schools listed, one is in America and the other is in Tokyo."

"He studied in America? No wonder. It seems like all players from America are monsters." Hyuuga muttered.

"You've only seen one!" Riko replied. "Plus, Arashi-kun doesn't seem very monster like."

"That guy's huge! He qualifies as a monster." After listening to his friends bicker, Kiyoshi picked up Haru's application form.

**Reason for joining:**  
I love basketball.

* * *

Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the beginning of this story. Now before you continue, there are a few things i'd like to warn you about. This is going to be a **really **long story. This story takes place not even a full year and it might take awhile for me to upload the first few chapters since I'm still thinking about the characters and working out the kinks in their interactions. Another thing is that there are a **lot** of OC's (it's a new year after all) so basically all the freshman are OC's. Other than that I hope you enjoy (if you decide to stick around).


	2. Chapter 2

"Welcome to the Seirin boys basketball tryouts." Riko announced when all the applicants arrived. _Thankfully there are no invisible ones.  
_  
"Um, excuse me." A freshman said, raising his hand a little. He had light brown hair and dark green eyes.

"Yes?"

"Um, sorry but, why are we standing outside of the gym? Aren't we having tryouts inside?"

"Yes, that's what I was about to explain." Riko answered and the freshman muttered a faint 'sorry'. "We've ran into a slight problem you see. It just so happens that the girl's basketball team is also having their tryouts. We're having ours afterwards so we'll go inside the gym and wait but we are not to disturb the tryouts, ok." Everyone nodded in agreement and with a 'lets go freshman!' they filed inside.

Various voices and sounds of shoes squeaking filled the huge room as all the girls were warming up. The boys' team were all sitting up in the bleachers; some talking amongst themselves, other watching the girls. The group of first years and Riko made their way around the court to join them. As they passed behind the net at the end of the gym, a small, black haired girl made a careless, but nevertheless, solid lay-up.

"Ah, Nee-chan~" Haru said aloud as she landed. She looked up at him.

"Hey Haru." She replied in a nonchalant manner as she moved out of the way for the next person.

"Good luck, do your best~" the tall male smiled as she grunted and continued with her warm-up.

"That's your sister?" A tall male with dark blond hair asked him.

"Mmm hmm~" Haru replied.

"You're both in the same grade, so that means you're twins, correct?" A dark haired male with glasses asked. Haru nodded.

"How do you know they're in the same grade?" The dark blond male asked.

"She's in my class."

"Oh," he looked taken aback, "yeah, how are you guys twins? You don't even look alike!"

"Just because they're twins doesn't necessarily mean they should look alike." A black- almost blue- haired male said, moving into the conversation.

"But they don't even look like siblings!"

"Hey, all of you, stop bickering and introduce yourselves." Riko said, getting their attention. The freshman group had finally reached their older counterpart and with their coach's words they began their introductions.

"I'm Arashi Haru, lets have a great year together~"

"Nakamura Hideaki, pleased to meet you." The dark haired male with glasses said. Hideaki was around six feet tall with broad shoulders. He had dark brown eyes and his facial features seemed to wear a naturally mischievous look.

"I'm Miyazaki Hinata, s'cool to meet you all." The dark blond haired male said. Hinata was five foot ten and had a very athletic figure which suggested that he'd been playing sports all his life. He had light hazel eyes which were more brown than green.

"I'm Fujimori Shiro." The blue black haired male said. Shiro had a fairly normal physique and stood around five foot eight. His presence was almost calming in a way except for his catlike eyes which were bright blue and he carried himself with a graceful confidence.

"Akagi Nao, p-pleased to meet you all." Nao looked very nervous. He had light brown hair and dark green eyes. He was the smallest of the bunch standing at five foot five. After the introductions they all took a seat as the girls tryouts begun.

"Everyone, we're now going to organize into teams for a scrimmage match." The coach of the girls' team announced and they all started to organize. Meanwhile, conversation continued between the freshman.

"So, Arashi-san, how long have you been playing basketball for?" The blue eyed Shiro asked with much curiosity.

"Oh, I've been playing for awhile, Nee-chan and I used to play basketball together all the time after school, and if it's not too much to ask, could you please address me as Haru. It's kinda confusing otherwise~" Haru chuckled and Shiro nodded in acknowledgement.

"Is she good? Your sister I mean?" Hinata asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah! She's awesome! We would play one-on-one and still to this day I haven't beat her~"

"Your sister looks like a good player, Haru-kun." That wasn't a voice from any of the freshman. Haru jumped in his spot and slowly turned to look where the voice came from. Seirin's very own Kuroko Tetsuya was sitting on Haru's left, seemingly focused on the tryouts commencing in front of them. All the freshman were staring at him with shocked faces, just noticing his presence. Haru tried to say something but couldn't get the words out.

"I was sitting here the whole time." Kuroko stated.

"Wow, Kuroko, I didn't even see you there!" Kiyoshi exclaimed from behind them.

"How'd he do that?!" Hinata asked.

"He just popped out of nowhere!" Nao added.

"I know people can't just disappear but, even to me, that was impressive." Hideaki commented.

"Yeah, that's Kuroko for ya." Kiyoshi smiled. Haru looked to Kiyoshi, his eyes shining.

"You mean, there's a senpai whose a magician?!" Everyone who heard looked dumbfounded.

"I don't think that's it Haru-san." Hideaki said. As he said that, Haru looked over to the bench where a few of the extra girls were sitting while the first scrimmage game was going on, his sister was one of those people.

"Nee-chan!" He called. She turned to look at him, an annoyed expression on her face. He suggested her to come over to him and she sighed as she fulfilled his request.

"What." She said as she reached him.

"We have a magician for a senpai~"

"Haru, you need to stop with your shenanigans or no one will be able to understand you." She replied as if she was talking to a small child.

"No, I'm serious! Kuroko-senpai just appears out of nowhere!" He suggested to Kuroko, his sister looked generally confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"He just appeared out of nowhere!" She huffed a ridiculing laugh at him.

"You're kidding me right? I saw you sit next to him, he was there the entire time." Everyone who heard looked shocked.

"What?"

"How did you see him?" The freshman said.

"Wow, you actually saw Kuroko?" Hyuuga added, joining the conversation.

"Why are you all acting so surprised? Human beings can't just disappear." Everyone just started in shock. Someone was actually not fazed by Kuroko's lack of presence.

"I'm leaving." She started to walk away.

"Hey, _N__ee-chan_." Hinata said, calling out to her. She turned her head to look at him, very annoyed that someone other than Haru called her 'nee-chan'. Hinata continued to talk.

"What's your name?"

"Arashi Rin." She turned to leave again but then she seemed to realize something. "Oh, I just remembered," She turned back to Haru. "You see the girls sitting closest to us over there?" She suggested to the benches where some of the other girls were sitting. Haru nodded. "They want to meet you, after tryouts."

"First day of high school and he's already getting girls, way to go Haru-kun!" Kiyoshi patted Haru on the head and chuckled. Haru's face was slightly flushed.

"Yeah, awesome." Rin replied sarcastically. A few people chuckled.

"Arashi-san!" Rin and Haru turned to look who called, it was the girls' coach. "You're on."

"Hai!" Rin exclaimed as the sudden realization hit her that she was still in tryouts. She turned and got ready to go on the court.

"Good luck Nee-chan~, show 'em what you got!" Haru shouted after her. Even though she didn't acknowledge his words, he knew she would give it her all.

_Everyone who was in this game was assembled onto the court. Since there wasn't an extreme amount of people this scrimmage was four-on-four, she took this into her calculation. This meant less could be done but it gave her a bit more maneuverability, an easy win could be done. The whistle was blown, the ball was tossed and the game started._

* * *

Yes, I know what you're all going to say. I already laughed a million years over this. Those of you who watched Free!, yes my two main OC's are named Rin and Haru. Not my fault since I made these two a couple months before Free! was released. (That doesn't stop it from being any less amusing..)


	3. Chapter 3

The second scrimmage game had been going on for awhile now, and Riko still couldn't figure out what was making her so uneasy. It looked like a normal girls' practice basketball game; consistent play, the occasional roughness here and there but normal nonetheless. But the question was, why was only one team scoring? It's not like the teams were uneven in strength, actually the team that wasn't scoring seemed stronger at first glance, but they could barely get out of their end. What's going on?

"Hey Riko, are you ok?" She turned and saw Hyuuga looking at her with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, but doesn't this game seem, kinda off?"

"Well, only one team has scored so far." Hyuuga suggested.

"Yeah," Riko said wearily, "Izuki," Izuki responded and looked to Riko. "Do you know what's going on with the game right now?"

"Not really, but this game might as well be _flat_ because of how _oppressing_ it is." he stated. People around him look at him with a deadpan expression.

"I'm seriously questioning your knowledge of Japanese."

"Heh, never mind that, just watch the point guard for a minute. She's most likely what's making you concerned. " Izuki said and looked back toward the game.

Riko started to watch each player individually on the court. Her eyes widened as she became aware of how the game was actually being played out. Rin had slipped naturally into the roll of point guard. She stayed inside the 3 point zone and she didn't score herself. Whenever the other team would get the ball, Rin would take it right back and all the plays started with her.

"What's wrong Haru-san?" Shiro asked. Haru face held a childishly annoyed expression.

"Nee-chan's not putting in any effort." _What?_ Riko looked in a hurry to talk with Haru.

"What exactly do you mean, Haru-kun?" Riko asked.

"She's playing normally, this is how she always plays." Haru said. "All they need to do is tighten up their guard on her and Nee-chan won't be able to do anything." Rin's team scored another basket and the play was about to start. The ball was passed and Rin was waiting to steal, but as the girl with the ball was about to pass Rin, two girls started marking her, keeping her from touching the ball. The girl dribbling the ball reached their net and performed a lay-up, scoring two points. The game continued with the girls double marking Rin and they continued to rack up points. There was only two minutes left in the set amount of time they got. Everyone was starting to see how strong the other team actually was. The four girls were all very good or consistent players who naturally worked well together and compared to Rin's team, they were superior.

"Haru-kun, you jinxed them." Kuroko said to him.

"Nee-chan won't loose~" Haru replied.

"Are you sure about that?" Hinata asked, Haru nodded.

"There is an actual reason _why_ I've never beaten her~" They all looked back at the game to see what events would unfold.

*  
_Damn it_, Rin thought, still being double marked. _Well, there goes taking it easy._ Her team had possession of the ball and she started to run, trying to get around the girls blocking her to receive a pass. When she got the ball the two girls were ready to keep her from reaching the net._ The taller one is left handed, head to her right to increase probability of passing_, which she did. Ball in her left hand, she dribbled around the girl on her right._ Next girl is less agile, increase speed of dogde. _She started a sprint, rushing past them both. _Next, fake left and head right, switch to right hand_. She managed to keep the ball away and get past three of the four players on the opposing team. _She's too tall for me to do a lay-up and I can't stop to shoot, only choice is to dunk_. Using an immense amount of her strength, her legs pushed her upwards and her left hand secured itself around the ring. She slammed the basketball into the net.

When Rin let go and landed back on the floor, she noticed that everyone was staring at her with shocked expressions. Well, she couldn't blame them, it's not everyday one sees a 155 cm girl make a dunk on a regulation height basketball net. Actually, she was pretty sure that never happens but she went and picked up the basketball and handed it to the closest girl on the other team.

"Your ball." she said and went to get ready to continue the game.

*  
Everyone was thinking the same thing; an around 150cm tall girl just dunked a basketball. That was definitely not something one saw everyday.

"Haru-kun, how did your sister just do that?" Haru chuckled a laugh.

"That's Nee-chan for ya~"

"But that's crazy, no person that height should be able to jump that high!"

"How did she even think about doing that?" Everyone, mostly the freshman, kept firing out questions of disbelief which caused Haru to raise his shoulders and his expression showed his inability to answer.

"I can't imagine that would feel good, jumping and landing." Someone who Haru was not yet familiar with voiced; it was Kagami Taiga. Haru was slightly intimidated by him.

"Yeah, I wouldn't think so either, but Nee-chan does it without complaining. She can only do it a couple if times though." The team looked back and sure enough they could see how much the jump fatigued her. She still kept up and single handedly took back as many points as the other team scored and then some. Even though she was less agile she was able to surpass the entirety of the opposing team.

"Geez, if that's what his sister is like, I wonder how good Haru-kun is gonna be. What do you think Riko- huh?" Hyuuga said to Riko but noticed she wasn't there. When he looked to the benches, he saw two girls conversing; Riko and the girls' coach. _What's she up to?_

_*  
_"Alright everyone, that's enough for today." With that, the girls all began to go back to their club room to get changed. Meanwhile, Riko had caught up to Rin, whose face was lightly covered in sweat.

"Arashi Rin, right?" She said aloud to get the other's attention.

"Yes..." She answered. Her eyes didn't hold the same intensity as they did at the sign-up.

"My name is Aida Riko. I am the coach of the boys basketball team."

"Oh yes, I remember. Your name was announced at the Winter Cup." Rin replied.

"You were at the Winter Cup?" Riko asked curiously. Rin shook her head in approval.

"Haru and I went to watch the final games. Your team's match was very well played." Riko was taken aback. She was surprised at the calm manner she was receiving from the other, based upon her first impressions.

"I'm sorry but may I ask, what was your reason to call me out?" Rin asked, bringing Riko out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yes. I wanted to know if you would be interested in possibly playing for the boys' team instead of the girls'." Rin had a brief moment of silence before answering as if processing the information.

"Is that even allowed?" She asked slowly.

"Well, we'd have to send in a letter for permission but your coach agreed with the idea. But of course, I have to ask your permission first." Rin was still for a moment then she started to collect her things off the bench. When she gathered everything she turned back to Riko.

"Can I think about it?" Rin asked. Riko was quiet for a second then answered.

"Alright, but I'll need your answer in two days." Rin nodded her head in confirmation and the two parted ways. Riko could sense Rin's disinterest but with that kind of talent, Riko believed, that _maybe_ her skills could be a direct match with Akashi Seijuurou's and can give Seirin the edge they need for the even fiercer season ahead of them.

* * *

The third chapter is up! Yay, finally! It's a four day weekend because Canada is awesome and we have Thanksgiving in October, so yeah writing time! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

After all the girls had left the the boys of the Seirin boys basketball team and the freshman gathered on the subtly scratched up floor. Riko had made her way over to the manager of the girls' team to discuss practice times and arrangements while the boys talk amongst each other.

"That's not something you see everyday." Hinata commented.

"What is?" Shiro asked.

"Having a high-schooler as a coach. Isn't it usually a teacher who enjoys the sport or has played it before that coaches?"

"I guess." Shiro replied. "There's obviously a reason though, she must be a very good coach."

"She is." Kiyoshi said, moving into the conversation. "We wouldn't have made it as far as we did without her I'm sure." The freshman looked at Kiyoshi with awe at his heartfelt, sincere words. Kiyoshi blinked, as if realizing something and looked Haru in the eyes, having to look up slightly. "Woah, you're tall Haru-kun!"

"You just noticed that?" The freshmen said in monotone.

"Ok everyone!" Riko got everyone's attention then announced to the freshman. "I'm the coach of the boys basketball team, Aida Riko, nice to meet you." They all focused their attention on her and mentally prepared for what the coach of the Seirin basketball team, the team that made it all the way to the Winter Cup finals despite being a newly formed team, had in store for them. "Ok first, take off your shirts." They were silent for a moment.

"Huh, why!" The freshman exclaimed but they all ended up doing as Riko said anyway.

"You can only do fifteen push-ups before getting fatigued right? You'll want to be stronger so you don't get pushed around on the court." Riko said to Nao and continued down the line to Hideaki. "You sometimes feel unbalanced when moving at high speeds correct? You'll want to strengthen up your core muscles."

"She can tell what we need to improve on just by looking at us?" Haru asked aloud.

"That's right." Hyuuga replied, Haru turned slightly to attentively listen. "Her dad is a personal trainer and now she uses the data she's collected from the years of observing at his workplace." When he finished, Haru's eyes filled with awe.

"Really? That's so cool~" He turned back to face Riko and noticed that she was right in front of him, her eyes widened slightly. _These numbers are huge_, Riko thought but that wasn't what was surprising her. _His strength is very balanced, I wouldn't be surprised if he's ambidextrous_. Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she looked to her clipboard.

"Alright, that's everyone."

"Are you sure Riko? No invisible players this year?" Koganei asked jokingly.

"Invisible players are not much to look at." Izuki added and quickly jotted it down in his notebook. Everyone stared to chuckle, some pressed their hands to their faces at the lame hilarity of the pun.

"That was dumb." Someone laughingly said.

"Then why are you laughing?" Someone else replied. After everyone calmed down slightly Riko said,

"Ok, everyone we'll start with warm up." As she said that, the sound of the gym doors opening was heard by the team and they all looked to see who it was. It was unexpected but Rin stepped inside, her hair hung loosely around her face but her nonchalant expression remained unchanged. Hyuuga signaled the team to start running laps around the gym while Riko met up with Rin.

"Hello again, Arashi-san." Riko welcomed.

"Hello Aida-senpai, I have an answer to your earlier request." _So formal_, Riko thought but continued to listen. Rin moved into a slight bow as she continued. "I will except your offer." Riko smiled.

"That's great." _She seemed kind of reluctant earlier, I wonder what changed her mind._ "I'll send in the letter for permission tomorrow. They probably won't like the idea but once they see you play I'm sure you'll become a full member of our team." Rin nodded slightly and Riko continued. "I'll have you fill out one of our permission forms to keep with me, if that's alright." Riko turned and retrieved a permission form out of her bag but when she turned back she noticed something about Rin. "Would you like to sit down?"

"Yes please." Rin replied with a slightly pained expression and sat down. Riko had noticed the strain on the other's legs, a strain caused by overworking the muscles.

"Is that just from the dunk earlier?" Riko asked.

"Yes, it doesn't hurt till I stop playing for awhile." Rin said as she rubbed her calves in a soothing manner. "Dunking puts a lot of strain on my legs as you can see."

"Yeah I can imagine. Jumping that high would take an immense amount of strength, especially at your height. Make sure to ice them when you get home." Rin nodded at the last part of the statement.

"Nee-chan, you're here~" They looked up and saw a smiling Haru standing a few feet in front of them. The rest of the team was starting to gather, awaiting instruction for the practice drills.

"I might as well say it now, everyone this is Arashi Rin and she is going to be joining our team." Riko announced followed by a swift bow and,

"It's nice to meet you all." From Rin. This announcement was greeted with a few minor exclamations of surprise.

"You're gunna be on our team now huh, Arashi-san. That was also some awesome dunking earlier." Koganei said.

"Oh, thank you." She replied. "Also, can you, actually all of you can call me by my given name. It's very confusing since Haru and I are in the same year." Everyone agreed.

"So cool~, Nee-chan you're going to be on the same team as me!" Haru exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh, I forgot you were here Haru."

"So mean!" Haru looked extremely hurt and continued expressing his hurt. Paying little attention, Rin looked around at each of the team members. She took in everyone's subtle movements and gestures while storing them unconsciously within her memory. Her eyes remained for a second longer on a certain player which she recognized from a year ago. His presence pulled her focus unto him and kept her held there. That familiar fire awoke in her chest, a fire that she thought had long diminished, and she remembered why she had started to play basketball again. She pulled herself back to reality and everyone's focus was luckily on Haru. He completed his melodramatic rant that everyone either sighed or chuckled lightly at. Then Riko pulled back the attention.

"Alright, everyone. Let's start our tryouts."

#

It was fairly dark outside when Rin approached the tall high-rise. She was relieved when she made it to the elevator which meant her journey and being afraid that her legs might collapse on her was almost over. She arrived at her desired floor and slowly made her way towards the door. When she unlocked and opened the door to her family's apartment she was surprised to find a pair of slightly worn black leather dress shoes at the threshold. She knew who was here. Leaving her bag on the kitchen island she walked through the open modern layout to a slightly more closed off part of the large apartment, where a sitting area was located. When she walked into the dark room, she saw the figure of a grown man illuminated by the white light of an electronic device. He lounged among the couch in a relaxed but elegant manner and was still, ever focused on the electronic. Even though the glare off his glasses caused her to not be able to see the man's eyes she knew his focus never shifted; not at her sounds of arrival nor to take a drag on his cigarette. The point he moved was when she flicked on the room's lights.

"Father, you shouldn't stare at a screen too long, you'll make your eyesight worse." Rin said aloud in the man's general direction as she moved, all pain in her legs forgotten, to clean off the empty short glass and bottle of expensive liquor off the coffee table.

"Ahh Rin, you're home early." Her father replied as he set down his tablet and took another drag on his cigarette.

"It's six o'clock Father, and it's a school night."

"Is it? I thought it was earlier." He said as Rin left to go put the items away. "Where is your brother? It's odd to see him leave your side."

"He went to see a few friends tonight." Rin answered, leaving the latter half of the previous statement unacknowledged

"That so?" He leant back into the sofa in a tired manner and took off his glasses. His eyes were shut and his brows were furrowed while he rubbed the corners of his eyes.  
Rin returned to the room shortly after and continued to organize the articles strewn about on the coffee table. Her father's briefcase lay open with papers pushed around inside of it along with a laptop and the case for his tablet.

"You work too hard, you'll get sick if don't take enough time to relax." She mentioned as she organized.

"I am relaxed, so it's alright isn't it?" He replied in a light humour and flicked off the ashes on his cigarette into the nearby ashtray. He saw that his daughter was in no mood to reply to his small talk so he steered the conversation in the direction he wanted it to go. "I talked to our undecided guest the other day." Rin froze in place for a moment before continuing with her clean-up.

"That so?" She asked with a nonchalant tone but the underlying curiosity is what the man picked up on.

"Yes, he said he'll attend. He's also bringing Seijuurou, you remember him, don't you?" Rin was momentarily silent before answering.

"Yes, I remember." After she finished organizing her father's papers she straightened back up into excellent posture and interlaced her hands behind herself, ready to participate in the conversation until it ran dry.

"He's the same age as you and Haru right? He's quite a fine young man, you should try to get along with him."

"Why do I get a feeling that you want me to get along with him for more reasons then because he's a 'fine young man'?"

"You suspect too much Rin. Why does everything have ulterior motives to you? Isn't anything as it seems?"

"Nothing is ever as it seems. You were the one that taught me that." The man smiled slightly, turning more into a proud smirk and picked up an article from his briefcase to review. She turned away and started to walk out of the room.

"You'll understand in due time." Rin stopped moving and turned her head slightly back as she replied.

"I already understand."

Rin left the area, picked up her school bag and started to make her way towards her room.

"Rin, where are you going? Why don't we sit and talk?

"I have homework to do." She replied without looking back. When he saw that she completely left the room, with a sigh he took a lengthy drag on his cigarettes before finally extinguishing it.

* * *

Yay, the chapter is up! Sorry if there's any spelling/grammatical errors at the moment, I just really wanted to get this chapter up for you guys. It's late so I'll fix them tomorrow during school. Fun Fact: I wrote the last section first so it's probably the best part of the chapter (working up to it was hard!) Anyway I hope you enjoyed.


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